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The Exploration of the Colorado River and Its Canyons (Penguin Classics) [Paperback]

John Wesley Powell , Wallace Stegner
4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)

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Book Description

May 27, 2003 Penguin Classics

One of the great works of American exploration literature, this account of a scientific expedition forced to survive famine, attacks, mutiny, and some of the most dangerous rapids known to man remains as fresh and exciting today as it was in 1874.

The Exploration of the Colorado River and Its Canyons, recently ranked number four on Adventure magazine’s list of top 100 classics, is legendary pioneer John Wesley Powell’s first-person account of his crew’s unprecedented odyssey along the Green and Colorado Rivers and through the Grand Canyon. A bold foray into the heart of the American West’s final frontier, the expedition was achieved without benefit of modern river-running equipment, supplies, or a firm sense of the region’s perilous topography and the attitudes of the native inhabitants towards whites.


Frequently Bought Together

The Exploration of the Colorado River and Its Canyons (Penguin Classics) + Down the Great Unknown: John Wesley Powell's 1869 Journey of Discovery and Tragedy Through the Grand Canyon + Beyond the Hundredth Meridian: John Wesley Powell and the Second Opening of the West
Price for all three: $37.80

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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

John Wesley Powell (1834-1902) was a professor of geology and director of the U.S. Geological Survey.

Wallace Stegner (1909-1993) was the author of numerous works of fiction and non-fiction, including the National Book Award-winning The Spectator Bird and Angle of Repose, which won the Pulitzer Prize.

Product Details

  • Paperback: 432 pages
  • Publisher: Penguin Classics; Reissue edition (May 27, 2003)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0142437522
  • ISBN-13: 978-0142437520
  • Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5 x 0.8 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #211,058 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
33 of 34 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Bears comparison with Lewis and Clark August 12, 2000
Format:Paperback
Even if you are illiterate, the drawings in this book are frequently incredible. While true, that the drawings don't always fit with the adjacent text, this will neither lessen the impact of the journal nor irritate the enjoyment of its descriptions. Like Lewis and Clark, Powell suffered great hardships on the way, going so far along known courses, and then emerging into the great unknown. His account of his last ten critical days on the Colorado River is compelling, his descriptions of the Grand Canyon and other canyons are frequently better than the illustrious drawings, and his geographic and geologic explanations of the basin's creation help shape a broader view of one of America's most visited places.

I highly recommend this as a reference book, a history book of the area, an adventure story, and an art portfolio.

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19 of 19 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
On May 24, 1869, Major John W. Powell, a one-armed veteran of the Civil War, along with nine others (geologists, geographers, scouts and adventurers), set out from Green River, Wyoming to explore the last great unmapped and unknown portion of the continental U.S. No man had ever descended the Colorado river as it cut its way through 1,000 miles of incredibly rugged badlands. However, Powell and his band of men completed a remarkable journey of exploration through this country.

A passage from Powell's narrative of the expedition, after they had been on the river nearly two months, conveys very well a perspective of the challenge Powell and his men faced, the courage they demonstrated and Powell's matter of fact, but powerful writing style.

"We are now ready to start on our way down the Great Unknown. Our boats, tied to a common stake, chafe each other as they are tossed by the fretful river. They ride high and buoyant, for their loads are lighter than we could desire. We have but a month's rations remaining. The flour has been resifted through the mosquito-net sieve; the spoiled bacon has been dried and the worst of it boiled; the few pounds of dried apples have been spread in the sun and reshrunken to their normal bulk. The sugar has all melted and gone on its way down the river. But we have a large sack of coffee. The lightening of the boats has this advantage--they will ride the waves better; and we shall have but little to carry when we make a portage. We are three quarters of a mile in the depths of the earth and the great river shrinks into insignificance as it dashes its angry waves against the walls and cliffs that rise to the world above. The waves are but puny ripples. We are but pigmies, running up and down among the sands or lost among the boulders. We have an unknown distance yet to run, an unknown river to explore. What falls there are, we know not. What rocks beset the channel, we know not. What walls rise over the river, we know not. Ah, well! We may conjecture many things. The men talk as cheerfully as ever. To me, the cheer is somber and the jests ghastly."

This book is a classic tale of exploration and discovery!

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22 of 23 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Better than "In Thin Air". November 5, 1997
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
One of the most enthralling and astonishing adventure books I've ever read. Powell was an ace geologist, a pretty good naturalist, a fearless explorer, and a very good writer. Add the unexplored waters of the Grand Canyon -- they truly didn't know what they were getting into when they started down the Canyon -- and you have a great book. The illustrations are first-rate as well.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars For the adventurer in all of us
Bought this for my husband who has done the rapids in the Grand Canyon and hiked the area. He is still reading it but absolutely loves it - the language, the descriptions and the... Read more
Published 3 days ago by B. Dimock
4.0 out of 5 stars Fun to read while looking at google earth.
Very interesting way to enjoy this book is to read it while looking at images on Google Earth. The descriptions of the river in the book are well written.
Published 1 month ago by Tim
4.0 out of 5 stars Great insight into the man and his adventures
John Wesley Powell is one of those rare heros and a real humanitarian. He predicted the dust bowl and water issues that plague this part of the world even today. Read more
Published 3 months ago by John C. Horst
5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing.
I read this through like a novel, it was a great book. I admire Powell quite a bit, so I'm biased, but his narrative flows well and you can really feel the difficulty and adventure... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Arthur W. Brown
5.0 out of 5 stars Highly recommended. Original entries by Powell with stunning...
Powell's original journal entries read like prose at times. Full of absolutely beautiful imagery and thrilling adventures in the last frontier of the Great American West. Read more
Published 4 months ago by M. Darin
5.0 out of 5 stars Great History
There's no getting around the fact that the Colorado river and its tributaries are rivers in nearly everyone's imagination. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Michael Bradley`
1.0 out of 5 stars A bit misleading...
It's easy to get the impression that this is a reprint of either 1) Powell's "official report" from the 1870's, or 2) Powell's "popular account" published by Flood and Vincent in... Read more
Published on October 1, 2010 by Drifter Smith
5.0 out of 5 stars Exploration of the "white spaces" of life...
John Wesley Powell lost his right arm at Shiloh, in the Civil War battle of 1862. As Wallace Stegner says of him, in his excellent book, "Beyond the Hundredth Meridian,": "Losing... Read more
Published on September 18, 2009 by John P. Jones III
4.0 out of 5 stars Grand
Quite the accomplishment for anyone, let alone a one-armed Civil War veteran.

Major John Powell and a handful of men bounce, bound, rebound, splash, crash and portage... Read more
Published on February 17, 2009 by William J Higgins III
3.0 out of 5 stars Cornerstone of Southwestern history
John Wesley Powell wrote one of the finest dedications that's ever been written when, as a very old man, he penned thanks to the men, dead many years, with whom he'd explored the... Read more
Published on December 4, 2008 by Seth Davidson
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